News from the Art World

Outdoors artworks : the best to discover

The outdoors… even if the nice weather comes and goes, we’re always dreaming of what we are going to do outside! In this article, Artsper has selected the best outdoor artworks from all over the world! An article that rhymes with grandeur, nature and sun!

Among the contemporary masters of outdoor installations, artist Christo is unmissable. The titanic projects completed by the eighty-year-old artist are counted in their dozens. Already in 1985, it was he who “covered” the Pont-Neuf in Paris. More recently, the artist has reimagined the physiognomy of the Italian lake Iseo, thanks to the installation of a sidewalk and an esplanade covered with yellow fabric, covering a surface of… 100, 000 square meters ! A pharaonic project don’t you think? But not as pharaonic as one of the projects the artist is working on right now, in the middle of the Abu Dhabi desert. Indeed, Christo foresees the construction of a pyramid 150 meters highs with multi coloured barrels of oil, which unlike to his other creations, will be permanent…

A botanical garden and open-air museum of contemporary art lost in the middle of Brazil… The Inhotim Gardens are a real Eden. This green setting hosts Brazilian billionaire Bernardo Paz’s collection of contemporary art. Among the numerous artists whose works are featured in the garden, are Japanese Yayoi Kusama, the Czech Dominik Land, as well as leading figures of Brazilian contemporary art, such as Lygia Pape and Adriana Varejao. In perfect harmony with the luxurious nature, the pieces show us the outdoors differently, as evidenced by Miguel Rio’s Branco Pavilion, which offers a view of the jungle as if through a Kaleidoscope.

In the quiet Tuscan countryside, hides a fantastic universe, inhabited by esoteric sculptures evoking the major aspects of the Tarot… A universe created completely by French artist Niki de Saint-Phalle, known internationally for her “nanas”, with the participation of her husband, Jean Tinguely. Opened in 1998, this garden counts with 22 sculptures, some of which reach 15 meters high. A dive into the colourful world of one of the most famous French artists!

The MAMO (Marseille, France)

Felice Varini

In the heart of Marseille, there is an exhibition space that will make you go up high. Located on the top of the radiant city, the famous work of architect Le Corbusier, The MAMO (for Marseille Modulor), has since 2013 hosted the creations of international artists. The work of Daniel Buren and Felice Varini have already rubbed shoulders with the azure sky and the architecture of the Phocaean city, in an ultra-graphic style. We are waiting impatiently for the museum’s next metamorphosis!

The Rock Garden by Nek Chand, Chandigarh (India)

Rock Garden, Nek Chand

The Rock Garden reflects Indian excess. The history of this huge garden of 120, 000 square meters, inhabited by 1400 carved figures, is exceptional. It started in 1957 in Chandigarh, a city that was under construction back then, under the patronage of an architect… Le Corbusier. In a plot of land abandoned in the middle of building works, Nek Chand, started creating this place by himself from recycled materials, and illegally. Statues, courts and small monuments come slowly out of the earth. As a reaction to the rigor of Corbusier, the work of Nek Chand is only intuition and imagination, which gives to the city a striking contrast. Finally discovered by Indian authorities almost twenty years later, the garden was legalized and then opened to the public in 1976. It is the biggest example of raw art in the world today.